229.65(1)(1) “Baseball park facilities" means property, tangible or intangible, owned in whole or in substantial part, operated or leased by a district that is principally for professional baseball including parking lots, garages, restaurants, parks, concession facilities, entertainment facilities and transportation facilities, and other functionally related or auxiliary facilities or structures.

229.65(2)(2) “Bond" means any bond, note or other obligation issued under s. 66.0621 by a district.

229.65(3)(3) “Bond resolution" means a resolution of the district board authorizing the issuance of, or providing terms and conditions related to, bonds and includes, where appropriate, any trust agreement, trust indenture, indenture of mortgage or deed of trust providing terms and conditions for bonds.

229.65(4)(4) “Chief executive officer" means the county executive of a county or, if the county does not have a county executive, the chairperson of the county board of supervisors.

229.65(5)(5) “District" means a special district created under this subchapter.

229.65(6)(6) “District board" means the governing board of a district.

229.65(7)(7) “Supermajority" means not less than 60 percent of the members of the district board.

229.66(1)(1) There is created, for each jurisdiction under s. 229.67, a special district that is a local governmental unit, that is a body corporate and politic, that is separate and distinct from, and independent of, the state, that has the powers under s. 229.68 and the name of which includes “Professional Baseball Park District".

229.66(2)(2) A district is governed by its district board. The district board may adopt bylaws to govern the district's activities, subject to this subchapter. Subject to sub. (3), the district board shall consist of the following members:

229.66(2)(a)(a) A number of persons equal to the number of counties within the jurisdiction of the district plus one, appointed by the governor. At least one of the persons appointed by the governor shall reside within each county that is within the jurisdiction of the district. A person appointed under this paragraph may take his or her seat immediately upon appointment and qualification, subject to confirmation or rejection by the senate.

229.66(2)(b)(b) Two persons appointed by the chief executive officer of the most populous county within the jurisdiction of the district, who shall serve at the pleasure of the chief executive officer. A person appointed under this paragraph may take his or her seat immediately upon appointment and qualification, subject to confirmation or rejection by a majority of the members-elect of the county board.

229.66(2)(c)(c) One person for each county in the jurisdiction of the district other than the most populous county within the jurisdiction of the district, appointed by the chief executive officer of that county. Each person appointed under this paragraph for a county shall serve at the pleasure of the chief executive officer in that county. A person appointed under this paragraph may take his or her seat immediately upon appointment and qualification, subject to confirmation or rejection by a majority of the members-elect of the county board.

229.66(2)(g)(g) One person appointed by the mayor of the most populous city within the jurisdiction of a district or if that city is organized under subch. I of ch. 64, the president of the council of that city, who shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor. A person appointed under this paragraph may take his or her seat immediately upon appointment and qualification, subject to confirmation or rejection by a majority of the members-elect of the common council or council.

229.66(3)(3) Upon appointment under sub. (2), the appointing authorities shall certify the appointees to the secretary of administration. The term of office of 50 percent of the persons appointed under sub. (2) (a) is 2 years, and the term of office of the other 50 percent of the persons appointed under sub. (2) (a) is 4 years, except that if an odd number of persons is appointed under sub. (2) (a), there shall be one more office with a term of 4 years than there are offices with terms of 2 years, and except that for the initial appointments for a newly created district the initial terms shall expire on July 1 of the 2nd year beginning after creation of a district for persons appointed to 2-year terms, and the initial terms shall expire on July 1 of the 4th year beginning after creation of a district for persons appointed to 4-year terms. Persons appointed under sub. (2) (a) may be removed from the district board before the expiration of their terms by the appointing authority but only for cause, as defined in s. 17.001. Vacancies for persons appointed under sub. (2) (a) shall be filled by the appointing authority who appointed the person whose office is vacant. A person appointed to fill a vacancy under sub. (2) (a) shall serve for the remainder of the term to which he or she is appointed. All of the appointing authorities shall ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that the membership of the board is diverse with respect to race. Of the persons appointed under sub. (2), not more than 4 may reside in any one county.

229.66(4)(4) The governor shall select the chairperson of the district board and the district board shall elect from its membership a vice chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer. A majority of the current membership of the district board constitutes a quorum to do business. The district may take action based on the affirmative vote of a majority of those directors who are present at a meeting of the district board.

229.66(5)(5) The members of the district board shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

229.66(6)(6) Upon the appointment and qualification of a majority of the members of a district board, the district board may exercise the powers and duties of a district board under this subchapter.

229.66(7)(7) At its first meeting the district board shall name the district.

229.67229.67
Jurisdiction. A district's jurisdiction is any county with a population of more than 600,000 and all counties that are contiguous to that county and that are not already included in a different district. Once created, a district's jurisdiction is fixed even if the population of other counties within the district subsequently exceeds 600,000. Once a county is included in a district's jurisdiction the county remains in the district until the district is dissolved under s. 229.71. In this section, “contiguous" includes a county that touches another county only at a corner.

229.68229.68
Powers of a district. A district has all of the powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes and provisions of this subchapter. In addition to all other powers granted by this subchapter, a district may do all of the following:

229.68(4)(a)(a) Acquire, construct, equip, maintain, improve, operate and manage the baseball park facilities as a revenue-generating enterprise, or engage other persons to do these things.

229.68(4)(b)(b) Acquire; lease, as lessor or lessee; use; or transfer property; except that the district may not enter into any lease that does not receive the affirmative vote of a supermajority of the district board.

229.68(4)(d)(d) Enter into contracts, subject to such standards as may be established by the district board. The district board may award any such contract for any combination or division of work it designates and may consider any factors in awarding a contract, including price, time for completion of work and qualifications and past performance of a contractor.

229.68(4)(f)(f) Make a grant of land or other property to the state, especially dedicated by the grant to use for a professional baseball park.

229.68(5)(5) Employ personnel, and fix and regulate their compensation; and provide, either directly or subject to an agreement under s. 66.0301 as a participant in a benefit plan of another governmental entity, any employee benefits, including an employee pension plan.

229.68(6)(6) Purchase insurance, establish and administer a plan of self-insurance or, subject to an agreement with another governmental entity under s. 66.0301, participate in a governmental plan of insurance or self-insurance.

229.68(8)(8) Issue revenue bonds under s. 66.0621, subject to ss. 229.72 to 229.79, and enter into agreements related to the issuance of bonds, including liquidity and credit facilities, remarketing agreements, insurance policies, guaranty agreements, letter of credit or reimbursement agreements, indexing agreements, interest exchange agreements and currency exchange agreements, except that the district may issue bonds under this subsection only if all of the following conditions are met:

229.68(8)(a)(a) A supermajority of the district board vote in favor of issuing bonds.

229.68(8)(b)(b) A majority of the members of the district board determines, based on the best available information, that the total cost of the initial construction of baseball park facilities does not exceed $250,000,000.

229.68(8)(c)(c) A majority of the members of the district board determines that the district's lease arrangement with the professional baseball team franchise that uses baseball park facilities constructed under this subchapter as its home facilities incorporates a term of at least 30 years.

229.68(9)(9) Maintain funds and invest the funds in any investment that the district board considers appropriate.

229.68(12)(12) Set standards governing the use of, and the conduct within, its baseball park facilities in order to promote public safety and convenience and to maintain order.

229.68(13)(13) Establish and collect fees, and establish shared revenue arrangements or other charges for the use of its baseball park facilities or for services rendered by the district.

229.68(14)(14) Enter into partnerships, joint ventures, common ownership or other arrangements with other persons to further the district's purposes.

229.68(15)(15) Impose, by the adoption of a resolution, the taxes under subch. V of ch. 77. A district may not levy any taxes that are not expressly authorized under subch. V of ch. 77 and that do not receive the affirmative vote of a supermajority of the district board. If a district adopts a resolution which imposes taxes, it shall deliver a certified copy of the resolution to the secretary of revenue at least 120 days before its effective date.

229.68(16)(16) Accept gifts, loans and other aid, which may be used only for the following purposes:

229.68(16)(a)(a) Retiring the bonds used to construct the baseball park facilities.

229.682(1)(1)Gifts and donations. The district board shall explore and consider ways to solicit and encourage gifts and donations for the construction of baseball park facilities and, to the extent feasible, implement means to solicit such gifts and donations.

229.682(3)(3)Special debt payments. The district shall pay, over a 3-year period beginning on October 1, 1996, any outstanding debt used to finance improvements to a baseball stadium that has been used as a home field by a major league professional baseball team in the district, up to a maximum amount of $1,500,000.

229.682(4)(4)Special ticket provisions. A major league professional baseball team that uses as its home field baseball park facilities that are constructed under this subchapter shall annually designate, for each county that is in the district's jurisdiction, at least one of the team's home games as a discount ticket day for that county, for which residents of that county may purchase discounted admission tickets.

229.682(6)(6)Use of stadium. The district board shall consider during the design review process the utilization of the facility for events in addition to baseball, which are consistent with the program statement and design for the stadium complex, and do not adversely affect the design, construction schedule or budget.

229.682(7)(7)Youth sports organizations. A major league professional baseball team that uses as its home field baseball park facilities that are constructed under this subchapter shall make an annual contribution of at least $20,000 to youth sports organizations in this state for the purchase of equipment or the rental or maintenance of athletic facilities that are used by such organizations. The contributions that are required under this subsection may be made in cash or equipment.

229.682(8)(8)Special rental payments. If a district board enters into a lease agreement with a professional baseball team for the rental of baseball park facilities under this subchapter, the lease agreement shall include all of the following:

229.682(8)(a)(a) A provision requiring lessees of sky boxes located in the facilities to pay to the team an amount equivalent to the combined sales tax rates in the jurisdictions in which the facilities are located multiplied by the total of all payments for the rental of the sky boxes.

229.682(8)(b)(b) A provision requiring the team to include amounts received under par. (a) as part of its rental payment to the district.

229.685(1)(1) The district board shall maintain a special fund into which it deposits only the revenue received from the department of revenue, that is derived from the taxes imposed under subch. V of ch. 77, and may use this revenue only for purposes related to baseball park facilities.

229.685(2)(2) If the district board determines that the revenues in the special fund under this section exceed current operating expenses for the operation of baseball park facilities, the district board shall apply the excess to either fund a fund for maintenance costs and capital improvements or to retire bonds issued for the initial construction of baseball park facilities, and any bonds issued to fund or refund those bonds, prior to their maturity. As soon as practicable after the retirement of all bonds issued for the initial construction of baseball park facilities and all bonds issued to fund or refund those bonds and after funding a fund for maintenance costs and capital improvements sufficiently to meet any maintenance or capital improvement obligations between the district and any professional baseball team using baseball park facilities constructed under this subchapter as a home stadium, the district board shall make a certification to the department of revenue to that effect.

229.70(2)(2) The district shall ensure that, for construction work and professional services contracts, a person who is awarded such a contract by a district shall agree, as a condition to receiving the contract, that his or her goal shall be to ensure that at least 25 percent of the employees hired because of the contract will be minority group members, at least 1 percent of the employees hired because of the contract will be employees of a disabled veteran-owned business, and at least 5 percent of the employees hired because of the contract will be women if the contract is for the construction of any part of baseball park facilities.

229.70(3)(3) It shall be a goal of the district to ensure that at least 25 percent of the aggregate dollar value of contracts awarded by the district in the following areas shall be awarded to minority businesses, at least 1 percent of the aggregate dollar value of contracts awarded by the district in the following areas shall be awarded to disabled veteran-owned businesses, and at least 5 percent of the aggregate dollar value of contracts awarded by the district in the following areas shall be awarded to women's businesses:

229.70(3)(a)(a) Contracts for the construction of baseball park facilities.

229.70(3)(b)(b) Contracts for professional services related to the construction of baseball park facilities.

229.70(3)(c)(c) Contracts for the development of baseball park facilities.

229.70(4)(4) It shall be a goal of a district, with regard to each of the contracts described under sub. (3) (a), (b) and (c), to award at least 25 percent of the dollar value of such contracts to minority businesses, at least 1 percent of the dollar value of such contracts to disabled veteran-owned businesses, and at least 5 percent of the dollar value of such contracts to women's businesses.

2015-16 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2017 Wis. Act 141 and all Supreme Court and Controlled Substances Board Orders effective on or before March 14, 2018. Published and certified under s. 35.18. Changes effective after March 14, 2018 are designated by NOTES. (Published 3-14-18)